Trust It To Emerge

Emerging Through The Veil

I read this from The Inner Sanctum and thought it was something that I wanted to share here, the thoughts dealing with the religious involvement of “worship” I have omitted, if you would care to read it in its entirety, just click on the link above.

Rich


Later, as I pondered, I marvelled at the lesson that I gleaned--the same lesson that all of life seems to be wrapping around me these days--a Kingdom lesson that I wish I could shout from the rooftops! We so often waste time and energy trying to fulfill expectations--especially our own--when in fact there is a fully equipped expectation-exceeding "machine" inside us! The Kingdom of God is swirling inside us Christians, fully resourced with Christmas words and music--or anything else desirable--accessible precisely at the time needed! The Kingdom wants to emerge with more power and force than we could ever muster in our own initiative--we just need to participate in its incarnation! The Scripture in Hebrews that urges us to come boldly to the throne to find grace to help in time of need not only mean a desperate approach in a desperate situation. That comfort is only a slice of a much broader pattern of living to which God is calling us: there is always empowerment for life and action to be experienced in our contact with God--He is always wanting to demonstrate Himself by showing up in the moments of our lives with surprising displays of Presence. The throne of grace is a throne of participation and partnering between heaven and earth. This God truly wants to live Himself out among us still and gladly does so--much to our enjoyment--when we refuse to nervously over plan his arrival!

And that really is, now that I think of it, the message of Christmas. The obvious answer to the popular Christmas song of a few years ago, Mary, Did You Know? is a resounding NO! Mary did not know that the pivotal Person of all time, eternity and spiritual substance was residing inside her young womb. How could anyone "know" that and bear up under it? She did not know, but she was willing to "let it emerge". She carried the Kingdom of God the way we all should--with the sense that she was participating in a mystery that her mental capacities could never fully master, yet remaining open to all the possibilities. The good news of Christmas is vast, but one very real aspect of it is this: This spiritual Kingdom to which we Christians now belong requires none of the effort, strain and fevered pursuit that we bring to it. This Kingdom, like the Savior that instituted it, wants--more than we know--to emerge. It wants to leap into being and fill every time and space around us, making things whole and right, hopeful and holy.

When we actually resist the pressures of do-it-yourself professional Christianity, we give the Kingdom a chance to show its overwhelming orchestrational ability and take our very breath away. Whether it is one Sunday morning's worship experience, or deliverance in the midst of an impossible situation, or the transformation of the nations--it's really all the same. God help us, as we hurl headlong into 2010, to learn the rhythm of Kingdom participation. Give us the incredible grace to, like Jesus, refuse to run to the dying Lazaurs, because we have already observed the power of resurrection and its ability to EMERGE! I'm looking for--and hoping to be a part of--an army of strangely sane Christians with eyes fixed on another realm. I'm looking to fully lose the religious performance frenzy and march forward with bold confidence minus the need to push or prove. Sign up now and leave the pressure behind...I think the call is clear.

Mind Over Mattress

Every morning it’s a gargantuan feat defying gravity just getting out of bed, or as I like to call it “mind over mattress”. In the spirit sense, the parallel would be rising from the muck and mire of our previous ‘stinking thinking’ in order that our minds be transformed: “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus”. This phenomenon doesn’t ‘just happen!’ as if by osmosis. It requires effort – usual considerable effort. How so? The scriptures describe the miracle of God’s grace impacting our lives as thus,
“For the law of the spirit of life has freed us from the (gravitational pull)of the law of sin and death.”
However, it kills me every time I hear of someone dismissing this vital aspect of our being as if at the point of conversion we were instantly made perfect in our soul. I wish! In the nasty now-and-now of every day living we are being confronted with a stark reality that another component of our being has yet to transformed or altered, that being our soul, our mind, will and emotions.
Is it possible (as I hear all the time) that we might in fact be experiencing perfection in motion, i.e. becoming fully perfect? And I’m not talking about human perfection here, but a perfection that we already have in Christ within our spirit union, but NOT yet within our needy soul.

If I didn’t know better, it would appear that some believers are on “auto-pilot” or “duct taped” to a permanent ‘on’ position. Let me elaborate (and this all comes back to my original illustration of ‘mind over mattress’): everyday we are confronted with issues that force us to make a choice, my way versus His way. If there were no choice where would there ever be an opportunity to expect any further growth or maturation in my walk with Christ? We learn, grow and mature by our choosing. We learn to cooperate with his grace in these instances.

Although a believer is no longer operating or living out of the flesh, he still has sin within his members, and the impetus for that sin is the sinner from the beginning, Satan - the father of lies who continues to assault the believer through a lack of experientially having the truth fleshed out within his/her soul.

There is nothing missing in His amazing grace in as far as it as been applied to our lives in being reborn, or “birthed” by the spirit of God! Instantly within our spirit there was a resurrection as it were, the Spirit of God being united (becoming one) with our state of deadness, quickening us and making us to become fully alive within our spirit. That area has obtained perfection, but our bodies are yet to obtain that which is yet to come - a new glorified earth suit - and it’s a promised deal, just another display of His life transforming grace transforming the corruptible into that which will ever be incorruptible.

Rich

Nothing to do With the Outflow

In reading from Os Chambers this morning, this stood out to me.

“A river touches places of which its source knows nothing, and Jesus says if we have received of His fullness, however small the visible measure of our lives, out of us will flow the rivers that will bless to the uttermost parts of the earth. We have nothing to do with the outflow - "This is the work of God that ye believe. . . ." God rarely allows a soul to see how great a blessing he is.”

Oh how I need Him to continue to open the eyes of my heart, not to see what He is doing as much as simply seeing Him, for in seeing Him, everything comes into a divine order, a order that might make no sense to my soul, but a knowing, All is ok son, ‘It is I.’

Os said; “Think of the healing and far-flung rivers nursing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up marvelous truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is an indication of the wider power of the river He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has nourished in you mighty torrents of blessing for others.”

"Is it not too extravagant to say that out of an individual believer rivers are going to flow? "I do not see the rivers," you say. Never look at yourself from the standpoint of - Who am I? In the history of God's work you will nearly always find that it has started from the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but the steadfastly true to Jesus Christ."

I’m sorry for those who have heard me say this one too many times, but hey, I love the reality of it becoming more and more a part of my everyday living.
“Even a blind man can count the seeds in an apple, but, only Jesus can count the number of orchards in ONE seed”!

Each and every day, and within that 24 hour world, I have the scared trust of knowing with a growing intensity I have an unlimited power, the ability to Choose Him over choosing my way.
The same grace that set into motion the resurrection within my spirit making me one with the Father of my spirit, is the very same grace powerfully working in each and every choice I make, in choosing Him.
Friends, never underestimate the day of small beginnings, little is much when Papa is in it.

Rich

Close and Yet Separated

My wife has been watching the Olympics. Yesterday, a remarkable surprise occurred in the women’s individual medley. An American woman was heavily favoured to win, and although it was close, she was in the lead right up to the very end – but she made a fatal error. She touched with the flat of her hand instead of her fingertips, and that 7/100 of a second meant the difference between gold and silver (close but not close enough).

Isn’t it remarkable when you consider particularly from a religious mind set, how two of the greatest figures, Moses and Elijah, from the Old Testament hall of fame, as close as they were to God, there remained yet a distance between them and God. These two men could not yet fully stand in the presence of God because they did not at that time have the right life to do so. By the way, I fully believe that they now have that right life.The closest position made available before the fully processed life of Christ as Jesus was either as a servant, or one step up, a friend.I know personally how often I wished if only I could be a “David or Moses or Elijah,’ not knowing that within me was the only life-nature (totally pleasing and acceptable) available, and along with that, a status no other position could compare with.

The point is that no amount of doing can earn us a place in the Father’s presence. This includes great and miraculous doing that is in obedience to the Father’s will. There is no kind of doing that can win us a place in the Father’s household because no amount of doing can make God “Father” to us.

Relationship with the Father is an issue of life and nothing but life. This is why when God moves it is always His place to take the first step: (Romans 5:8). When the Father made His greatest commitment to humanity there was no question of any action being required on our part. When Christ died for us we didn’t even understand what was going on so action on our part was totally out of the question.

In being brought to see with ever greater clarity that our only Life is Christ, then why are we trying to be ‘like’ Christ verses, ‘as’ Christ? By surrendering to the nature-life of the Father in us, is this a ‘work’ we’re doing or is it a choice totally available to us, trusting Him to fully form his Son in us as us?
Paul clearly establishes this thought from (Romans 5:9-11): "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin's dominion) through His resurrection] life."

Isn’t it but a moment by moment trusting, surrendering (choice) to our Father the author of the real life in us which was initiated by our Father, verses through the energy of our fleshly desires to produce ‘Christ likeness’? Is being close (having a form of Godliness) what we want, or is it the longing of our heart to have Christ fully formed in us?

Rich

This Present Christ

If there is no ability to choose, then what good is free will?

It is my contention that being a human being and also a Christian is much like oil and water - they just don’t mix (or do they?), and it is within this dissonance our loving Father constantly presents us with such choices.

On a daily basis, to one degree or another, we are faced with the choice of being drawn, dragged back into our past or stymied with fear at the uncertainty of what the future holds. So many things compete to cloud our minds, and a clouded mind sees nothing!

The canvas of our mind is being painted with vivid and powerful strokes. The paint is especially formulated by the enemy to keep us living in an illusory world of fear lies and shadows, but the God of love stepped into this surreal world, clothing himself with our humanity, and in so doing embraced every fear we would ever experience. He lived as a man - and as a man overcame, defeated the father of lies and made a way of escape for us, right now, this very moment.

It is simply but powerfully summed up as, ‘I AM’!

Rich

Love, Freeing us to be Real

I was catching up on some blog reading the other day and came across this from Lisa over at
http://lisadelay.blogspot.com/

I liked very much what Lisa has to say in her response to Cole’s questions.

It was this in particular that spoke to me; ‘What sharing your faith (Christian apologetics) boils down to is something more than just preaching and defending the Good News. Humans are in rebellion against God in their hearts. The bible points this out in the narrative story of God's interaction with people. Many thirst for something missing --which is the missing reconciliation with God. They long for peace, but also many are in opposition to God. And some (basically) hate him. We have to know this when we talk to people who don't believe. Spiritually it boils down to submission, doing things God's way....for you and for those opposed to God. Submission is never easy-- and not very cool in a society that prizes freedom, independence, and choice. Paradoxically, it is God's authority that brings comfort, clarity, and relief.’

Believe me when I say that I know it was the unconditional love and acceptance of God the Father that we were all created for, and it is this love that is doing what NO law could ever do, but!

These are simply a few thoughts here on what I think I saw in Lisa’s words that spoke to me.I think one easily forgets that humans are in rebellion against God in their hearts, and yes we are all thirsting for that which is missing, His total loving acceptance, but there is this innate built in (because of sin) opposition towards God.
Once again I know it’s the Love of God the Father that releases me to be able to relinquish my will (submit-why is that such a bad word) in place of His, aka, doing things His way.

Yes it was by grace through faith that the miracle of the re-birthing took place, but for one to forget or not even see that within our flesh (and I know that is no longer who we are) the residual effects of sin, (and that is not just some defect, but a rebellious (birth mark stamped within us) defiance, the very spirit that permeated Lucifer-Satan that invaded all of humanity) is living a lie.
It is always truth being held in tension that brings forth the real. It will always be within the battle of the struggle and strain that we are experiencing Life, or as one person once said, ‘God doesn’t give us over coming life, but Life as we over come.’

Nothing thrills my heart more than seeing the Captain of my salvation, my elder brother Jesus Christ agonizing in the garden, and that was all about that which was a part of his flesh, that which he took upon himself in the incarnation battling over his will vs the will of his Father.
What I especially love about this royal battle was that he did not try and put on a happy God face as if having to strain-struggle was something drastically wrong with this God-man.
Read the story for yourself, He invites those (his friends) to be with him in this place of great agony.

God forbid that we as believers should ever let anyone see us sweating, straining, struggling, and why should they, there is no more resistance or rebellion in our flesh-is there??

Rich

Newton’s First Law of Motion

“An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” *

We are the only beings capable of choosing to accept or deny the ‘unbalanced force’ of God’s grace.

The state of inertia, spiritually speaking, is what keeps believers from moving from or off of their fixed tracks of ego (a self-for-self), in other words - living out of their soul. All people are in a state of inertia. They will keep on traveling at the same motion and at the same speed unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. The unbalanced force is their ability to choose (unlike any other creature made by God), working in tandem with the grace of God. If they deny or refuse to choose, they remain in the state of soul-inertia.

I really don’t care what subterfuge, shrouding device or deception is being used in trying to hide (the truth) that which is an innate imprinting in all men: But God's angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.

In my opinion man is the only expression of God’s handiwork whereby God has as it were handicapped himself in terms of his power.
Grace (a force) being used in my analogy here as an unbalanced force, is NOT forced upon us! *
To further illustrate this only with other creatures such as geese, salmon, butterflies etc. God has stamped these along with all species with an imprinting called ‘instinct’, is this a force used against the well being of such creatures, or is it a wonderful gift from God in prolonging their species?

In the case of man, although fallen, confined, and imprisoned in the inescapable vice of sin and death, God woos with His spirit, calling out to man speaking of His total unconditional loving acceptance of them.
Although imprisoned, man has within him that which no other creature has, the ability to choose, aka an unbalanced force that will harmoniously work in tandem with the other unbalanced force of grace.
In my opinion, I see the unbalanced force of free will to be much like a powerful engine designed to burst into action, but impotent without having access to fuel.Grace, without forcing, is that fuel that facilitates (works in tandem with) our free will that launches us out of our fixed state of inertia.

As Paul says in his letters, ‘we are laborers together in the work of God, one plants, another waters, but God gives the increase’.
Sadly I see many who look upon us having any ability to co-operate with God in the outworking of what He has worked into us being at best heretical. I have heard this too many times, ‘any work that we do, is contrary to it being ALL grace’.
In other words, grace is but synonymous with osmosis: “A gradual, often unconscious process of assimilation or absorption”. Don’t you think that smacks of the philosophy used by the Borg on Star Trek: "Prepare to be assimilated. We will add your biological and technological distinctives to our own. You will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."

For some, maybe God and the Borg are one in the same?

In not recognizing the miracle of both unbalanced forces working harmoniously together in tandem, although a person being re-birthed, can easily become locked into an inert state all over again, waiting upon the ‘great magic’ to assimilate them apart from any choosing on their part. Maybe that’s why the scriptures I used earlier seem so applicable here.

‘They trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life.’

Rich